I had always hoped Obama would be a bigger person that he is. Men know how to recognize other men with a certain authority; it is hard to describe but you see it in guys (and in certain women, too) that have been tested in a major way and come out the other side with a kind of quiet authority. You don’t always agree with them but you naturally respect them. Obama doesn’t have that; he is too quick to play to the crowd, to clown, going for the laugh at the expense of someone else. Witness his sliding, rubbing the side of his head while giving Hillary the finger at a huge campaign event. Or his reaction to the whole “Joe the Plumber” media flash. Here was a perfect chance to connect with white working class guys on a mass scale. Obama could have taken the sting out of Joe’s challenge by saying, “first off, you are just the kind of citizen America needs; you’re hardworking and ambitious and you want to expand your business; why don’t you put together a five point list on how we can help you succeed?” Instead, a day or two after meeting “Joe” Obama hit the podium and mocked, “What kind of plumber makes 200 grand a year?” This was very sad. For any public servant to mock working men or women is to reveal a pretty sorry looking x-ray of said public servant. Talk about off-key. Then he took on Rush Limbaugh. Independent of Rush’s ideas, it is such a weird encounter, the most powerful man in the world two weeks into office taking on a talk radio jock. Just weird. We’ve got nutty dictators with nukes scattered around the world, America-hating Muslim terrorists plotting and planning bigger 9/11s and the president is wrangling with a radio host? A real leader knows how to draw in various kinds of energy – even opposition energy and turn it to his own purposes. He knows how to co-opt, if you will. Obama just doesn’t have the largess for “turnability.” This is not to say that he is not likeable. He is, very much so. But he doesn’t command; his character is filtered through the exigencies of party politics. He is needy, his ego is hungry, so much so that it satisfies him to be a symbol.